Single-photon sources are light sources that can emit light as single particles (photons) at respective times. These sources are useful in a wide variety of applications. However, single-photon sources do not behave deterministically. That is, for each attempt to emit a single-photon, the probability of success is less than 100%, and, as a result, sometimes no photon is emitted at all for a particular attempt. In some circumstances, an attempt to produce a single-photon may produce two photons, which may also be considered an unsuccessful attempt when no more than one photon is required.
Conventional single-photon sources have limited yields in generating single photons. Accordingly, there is a need for methods and devices that improve the efficiency and reliability of single-photon sources.